Thursday, August 11, 2005

Delhi VIII: The Empire Strikes Back

Our first stop was New Delhi. When I was younger I always wondered why I couldn't find Old Delhi marked on the map. New Delhi is the eighth city on this site, created by the helpful intervention of the British Empire. We stayed in an area frequented by backpackers called Paharganj, relatively close to everything interesting. It is described in Lonely Planet as “seedy", which is something of an understatement. But it has its charms. We stayed in a basic hostel called Hotel Major's Den which was very friendly. Dylan and Jasmine enjoyed the use of the bucket bath to the point that they want one when they go home now. Allegedly.Somehow over 3 days we managed to do nothing at all in Delhi. We managed to eat in such centres of Delhi culture as Pizza Hut – where all the staff indulged in a quick Bollywood dance number at one point - and Rodeos, a Tex-Mex restaurant where the waiters dress as cowboys. We tried in vain to get an airline ticket to Kathmandu, having decided that we'd spend a few weeks in Nepal as well as seeing some of North India. Nepal has some of the few casinos in this part of Asia apparently, so all flights were booked full of Indian tourists going to play blackjack for the weekend. Together with the bureaucracy of getting a train ticket to Jaipur, that was an entire day gone!